Norfolk Chamber’s new King’s Lynn based Lite Nites Networking events kicked off with the inaugural event this week. Held at the Bank House Hotel, the informal free networking event was held from 6pm to 8pm with all local businesses being welcomed.
Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber said: “It was a great way to end the working day. The event offered the opportunity for local business people to meet and network with like-minded peers.”
Hosting the event was Vice President of West Norfolk Chamber, Michael Baldwin, General Manager of the Bank House Hotel who said “The Bank House is very happy to support the local business community and the event was very well attended. The atmosphere was relaxed but with a great buzz and we are looking forward to hosting the next evening in a couple of weeks time.”
The events are open to all West Norfolk businesses and are free to attend. Places are limited, sobook your place now. The next event will be on Tuesday 7 June from 6pm – 8pm.
As the EU Referendum fast approaches and the assertions from both sides of the campaign escalate. Norfolk Chamber hopes to be able to help businesses in Norfolk make up their minds by sticking the just the facts. The ‘Europe: The Business Debate’ event on 10 June, hopes to be able to help local businesses make their final decisions.
In the meantime, the BBC has recently published its ‘Reality Check’ report. The report takes a critical view of claims made by both the Remain and Leave campaigners to see if they stand up to scrutiny.
Norfolk Chamber has highlighted just a few key areas that affect business in this article:
Do we have a say over EU small business regulations?
The claim: Priti Patel says the UK has no say over the amount of regulation coming from the EU. She also says the UK is constantly being outvoted.
Reality Check verdict: The UK does have a say over regulations affecting small businesses, both through its MEPs and government ministers who vote at the Council, where they have been on the “winning side” 86.7% of the time in recent years. Read more detail here.
Would staying in the EU reduce wages?
The Claim: The downward pressure on wages is a trend that will only get worse if we continue to have open borders with the EU.
Reality Check verdict: Migration does appear to have put pressure on wages, but there is some evidence that leaving the EU would reduce them even more. Read more detail here.
Is £250bn of trade at risk from Brexit?
The claim: Leaving the EU would put £250bn of trade at risk, according to Britain Stronger in Europe.
Reality Check verdict: The group has taken a set of figures predicting the benefits of EU membership and used that to reach a figure for the risks of leaving. It would not necessarily work like that. Also, the figures include imports, a fall in which would not necessarily be a bad thing. Read more detail here.
Are we giving £350m a week to Brussels?
The claim: “We are giving £20bn a year or £350m a week to Brussels.”
Reality Check verdict: We are not giving £20bn a year or £350m a week to Brussels – Britain pays £276m a week to the EU budget because of the rebate. Read more detail here.
Do farmers outside the EU get more subsidies?
The claim: Farmers in certain non-EU countries get more money from government than their EU counterparts.
Reality check verdict: True – farmers in some non-EU countries do get higher subsidies, but no reason to think that would be matched in a post-Brexit UK.
Still have more questions? Then come and get your questions answered by local and national experts and join Norfolk Chamber for Europe: The Business Debate, on 10 June. Click here to book now.
Marking Norfolk Chamber’s 120th anniversary, nearly 200 guests gathered at the historical Norwich Castle Museum on Thursday 19th Mayfor an evening of celebrations.
The wine was flowing as Norfolk Chamber took the opportunity to thank members for their continued support, treating them to an evening of entertainment including a live singer and event raffle.
Held in the stunning Keep at Norwich Castle Museum, guests had the opportunity to explore the Keep’s Basement and Prison Displays, as well as view artefacts sourced from Norfolk Museum Service and Norfolk Chamber, relating to the history of the Chamber. Included in the displays, was the recently refurbished Presidents Board which lists 48 influential and high profile presidents over the course of 120 years.
Speaking at the event Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said: “For 120 years we have stood for Norfolk, championing its commerce, celebrating its achievements and creating a network of likeminded people who, by sharing their knowledge and experience have created one of the most outstanding business networks in the country.
“Our mission has always been to look to the future of business, through good times and bad, in war and peace, under governments of every hue, the Chamber has been a voice for business, and a voice for Norfolk. Here for our members, because weare our members.”
During the event, Norfolk Chamber launched their Anniversary Fund in conjunction with Norfolk Community Foundation as part of an ongoing campaign. The aim of the fund is to encourage the growth and advancement of Norfolk’s young people, by creating opportunities to help them flourish in employment. Norfolk Chamber will match pound-for-pound every donation made up to £10,000 with the goal being to meet this target within 12 months. Grants will be made to suitable community projects towards the end of 2016.
To kick start the fundraising process, a raffle was held at the event, with 25 members kindly donating prizes from an iPad and Coffee Machine, to gift vouchers, including a meal for four people. Guests gave generously to the cause and Norfolk Chamber raised over £1,000 including the raffle on the evening.
As part of the year long anniversary activities Norfolk Chamber have sponsored the Norwich City of Ale Festival 2016. As a final thank you to members, guests received a special branded pint glass from Norwich City of Ale, as well as a 120 year printed supplement to commemorate the evening.
There was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the evening and Twitter was buzzing, with guests posting photos and tweeting their feedback using #Chamber120
NW Brown Group Ltd @NWBrownGroup Great event last night to celebrate the #Chamber120 year anniversary, thank you for the invitation @norfolkchamber
James Elvin @jimmyelvin Cheers to @norfolkchamber for a fantastic evening and also for another successful 120 years! #Chamber120
Lynsey Sweales @LynseySweales Great @norfolkchamber event this evening to celebrate #Chamber120 what a great event! #Norwich #business
The Department of Business Innovation & Skills (BIS), together with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are exploring the barriers facing businesses in accessing affordable superfast broadband. As part of that review they have put out a ‘Call for Evidence’ to learn more about the broadband needs of businesses both now and in the future.
They are looking for feedback on the following areas:
Current and future business needs:
What do you consider your business broadband requirements to be and why? It would be helpful if you could consider upload and download speeds, price, reliability and any other relevant issues in your answer. Do you anticipate your broadband requirements to change in the future? If so, why and in what way? Are you confident in determining what your current and future broadband needs are and deciding what products you should choose? If not, please explain why. What further information would help you in determining your current and future broadband requirements and which products may be suitable for your business?
Availability and effectiveness of current provision:
Who provides your current broadband, what product do you have and how much do you pay per month? Do you use a dedicated leased line service? If so, please indicate whether this was a business decision based on your requirements or whether no suitable alternatives were available. Are you satisfied with the speeds you receive, the amount you pay and the service you get from your provider? If not, please set out why. What do you consider to be the main challenges or barriers to accessing the broadband provision for your business needs? Do these challenges include insufficient choice of provider or technology, and knowledge of the market? What impact do these challenges have on your business? What changes do you consider Government could make that would assist you in overcoming these challenges?
Norwich City Council have released their latest economic barometer. The report highlighted:
Nationally
UK’s trade deficit is at its biggest since 2008 – mire evidence of the weight of global economic weakness
Consumer spending fuelled UK growth in the first 3 months of the year
The ONS highlighted that UK industry fell back into recession – as it shrank for the second quarter in a row
The number of workers on temporary contracts has risen at its strongest rate in over a year and wages growth remains likely to be stuck in the slow lane.
The number of UK properties sold fell by 45% between March and April
Locally
The East of England attracted more foreign investment projects last year than since any stage since the recession. This was helped by increasing overseas interest in Cambridge
A new £7m, 595 space car park at Rose Lane has now opened.
Kettle Foods, who employs 450 people reported a 5.4% reduction in sales for the year ending 31 July 2015
The Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey is now underway. Deadline for responses is 13 June 2016 – complete the survey now
Work has begun on the £12m Norwich based aviation academy, which will train the next generation of aircraft engineers.
We’re looking for businesses to donate their time in helping students at Wymondham College with CV and Interview Skills.
Wymondham College are holding their ‘Get Set for Success’ Employability Day for Year 10 students during Enrichment Week and are looking for business mentors to work with small groups.
It takes place on Wednesday 29th June, with two sessions running, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, duration of session is two hours. Business mentors can choose to help out at one or both of these sessions, with groups of 6-8 students which are supervised at all times by school staff.
Printed booklets for both mentors and students, and mentors guide their group through the activities and discussions, covering skills and qualities, the basics of CV writing and interview skills, and ending with a mock interview.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact:
Many schools across Norfolk have already benefited from free Careers Events organised by Norfolk Chamber that inspire, enthuse and motivate students to consider employment options available to them and think about their future career progression.
We are looking for more state schools who want to take advantage of free careers events organised on their behalf for the next academic year (September 2016-July 2017).
We can tailor the event for each school and are flexible on duration, format and can provide marketing material to assist with promotion and we will liaise directly with a range of businesses to attend.
Participating schools would need to have a minimum of 250 students in Year 8 and above attend over the duration of the event.
If this sounds like something your school would like to be involved with, please contact:
NatWest has announced plans to help at least 15,000 UK businesses export their goods or enter overseas markets by 2020.
Working with UK Export Finance (UKEF), the bank aims to provide export finance to help companies secure £2.5 billion of overseas contracts within the next four years.
Alison Rose, CEO of Commercial and Private Banking at NatWest, said: “When companies are ready, doing business overseas can have huge benefits. Businesses only trading in Britain limit their revenue potential to the UK, but each new overseas market represents a new possible source of income.”
She said that the bank will make it easier to trade overseas by developing online tools and more simplified products through digital transformation programme.
It will also work with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and other partners to drive UK exports, delivering regional workshops for businesses across the UK and showing firms the specific growth opportunities available to them.
NatWest will also work closely with UKTI and UKEF to make it easier for businesses to apply for schemes and to secure funding for exporting.
Lord Price, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, welcomed the news saying: “The Government and the banking sector share a joint aim – to help budding exporters realise their dreams of building a global business. By teaming up in this way, I hope we can inspire more British companies to take advantage of the world of opportunity out there and to make the most of the worldwide demand for their products, skills and expertise.”
Plumstead Road, which is closed between Thorpe End and Little Plumstead, will reopen as soon as possible on Friday, 11 March, but this may not be until the evening.
The road has been closed to all traffic since 22 February for cable diversion and other preparatory work ahead of construction of the double bridge carrying Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR) over Plumstead Road and the Norwich to Sheringham railway. Recent difficult conditions mean that the work may not be finished until Friday evening, although every effort will be made to bring forward the reopening of Plumstead Road so that it is available for the evening journey home.
The reopening of Plumstead Road will be followed on Monday 14 March by the closure of the nearby Middle Roaduntilthe 25March. It will then reopen to allow the closure in turn ofSmee Lane, for up to two weeks from 28March, andLow Road, for up to two weeks from 11April. When Middle Road closes again in late April, this will be the start of the long-term closure for construction of the Middle Road bridge over the NDR.
On the western half of the NDR, the long-term closure of Drayton Lane begins on Monday 14 March. Holly Lane will provide the diversion route.Drayton Lane,which is a popular cut-through between Reepham Road and the B1149 Holt Road in spite of some sharp bends, is being completely realigned to provide a new route for Holt Roadtraffic to the NDR.
The current round of staffed exhibitions is now well underway. Over 500 people have attended the first three, at Postwick, Spixworth and Hellesdon, to view the plans, and to find out about the construction programme, traffic management and road closures, and environmental protection measures.
Over the next two weeks there are exhibitions (all 3pm to 7pm) at:
Thursday 10 March – Sprowston Diamond Centre, School Lane.
Friday 11 March – Drayton Bob Carter Centre, School Road.
Tuesday 15 March – Great Plumstead Village Hall, Church Road.
Wednesday 16 March – Rackheath Holy Trinity Church and Centre, Salhouse Road.
Friday 18 March – Thorpe St Andrew Dussindale Community Centre, Pound Lane.
Monday 21 March – Taverham Village Hall, Sandy Lane
We have been informed by the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq that with immediate effect the new requirements and regulations for exporting Red Meats to Iraq in any form must comply with the following:
1. All processed fresh red meat should be exported from countries free of Cow Disease
2. All exported red meat should be accompanied with an authorised Health Certificate and legalised by the Iraqi Embassy (Consular Section)
3. Health Certificate of the products includes:
Suitable for human consumption
Consumed by domestic population
Free of cow disease and any other pollution
Non Genetically Modified (GM) and free of added hormones
Free of any radiation effects
Labels to show clearly the production date and validity with a reference
Before the county head to their polling stations, Norfolk Chamber tackled the question on everyone’s minds – whether to stay in the EU or to leave? Europe: The Business Debate saw over 70 delegates attend an interactive panel debate at the Norwich City Football Club on June 10.
Norfolk Chamber’s President Jonathan Cage, Create Engineering, welcomed guests and explained the Chamber’s neutral position on the referendum. The event was hosted by BBC Radio Norfolk’s Nick Conrad who conducted a smooth flowing debate and also brought an element of wit to an otherwise heavy subject.
The event kicked off with a live poll in order to gauge the audience’s initial voting preferences. In contrast to other regional polls, the event poll showed a clear preference with 65% of the audience voting for remaining in the EU. Attendees were then able to hear from both sides of the EU debate with each of the guest speakers providing an opening speech, sharing their views on the vote and how it could affect business.
The expert panel consisted of Stephen Booth co-director of Open Europe, Hussein Kassim Professor in Politics UEA, Chloe Smith Norwich North MP, Stuart Agnew MEP, Derek Wood former Lord Mayor of Norwich and Luke Morris deputy chair for Business for Britain East of England. With so much knowledge and insight present on one panel it enabled the audience to directly get valid opinions on the referendum.
Before the panel Q+A began, delegates were given a short break to allow discussion in order to ready them to face the panel with their all important questions. Panellists then tackled the topics which arose, these include; priorities for change and reform, business regulations, political instability, housing crisis, immigration, TTIP, the economy and the long term implications of the vote.
Numerous key messages came from the panel, Luke Morris campaigning for Britain to leave the EU advised that ‘voters are stepping into uncertainty in whichever box they cross, but unfortunately uncertainty is a fact of life’ whilst stressing the importance of Britain’s ability to make trade deals with countries outside of the EU, advising ‘Getting out of the EU is not going to be the silver bullet to all of our problems but I think it will be a big improvement to where we are.’
The remain panel highlighted the importance of access to a free market, and reminded delegates that the EU supports tackling climate change and provides common security intelligence. Chloe Smith advised ‘To leave the EU would make Britain poorer in GDP terms and poorer in terms of the jobs that are available and to the next generation’, ‘we face a sever shock if we leave which is not worth taking’.
Neutral experts were on hand to either support or deny any allegations made by either side of the debate, Hussein Kassim summarised that ultimately the vote is all about trade-offs, whilst Stephen Booth advised ‘there are challenges on both sides’ noting that the EU still needs reform if we vote to remain in.
After the fast paced Q+A with the panel, the event finished off with another live audience poll. The results showed a 7% increase in votes to the leave campaign, totalling at 42%, however the majority of the audience still voted to remain in the EU.